SOME call it cruel, and no wonder. Baying spectators jab them with sharp sticks, or yank and twist their tails. Handlers are said to squeeze lemon in their eyes, rub chili on their genitals or force alcohol down their throats—whatever it takes to drive a bull wild enough to charge into a pen ringed with cheering, jeering people. The terrified beasts often trample or gore the boys who try to catch them by the hump and drag them down. Fear can also send a 450kg (1,000lb) bull crashing through barriers into speeding cars or trains.
But jallikattu, a form of bull wrestling practised in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is no blood sport: unlike in a Spanish bullfight, the bulls’ ordeal does not end in death. For Tamils, the “taming” of bulls is a noble tradition. Prehistoric cave paintings, ancient seals and 17th-century carvings from Hindu temples all capture the same, unchanging image of a daredevil youth straining against the ungainly shoulder hump that distinguishes the hardy native bos indicus breed of cattle. In myth Krishna pacified a bull; the great Tamil screen heroes have also tested...Continue reading
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